Bradenton woman charged as part of opioid distribution ring, feds say
A 37-year-old Bradenton woman has been charged as part of a conspiracy that used fraudulent prescriptions to distribute opioids, according to federal prosecutors.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office in Tampa, Patrice Jackson faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted on the charges that involve other suspects in a complex opioid distribution scheme.
Jackson is accused of obtaining fake prescriptions for opioids from two other suspects who also have been charged — Lucretia Mullan, 34, and Robin Lloyd, 37, both of St. Petersburg, according to a news release.
Jackson would get the fake prescriptions for oxycodone, methadone and hydromorphone from Mullan and Lloyd, both of whom work as pain management medical assistants, and obtain the drugs from a licensed pharmacist at a HP Pharmacy location in Pinellas Park, who was in on the scheme, prosecutors say.
The pharmacist, Hong Truong, 54, of Dunedin, and pharmacist technician Jessica Evans, 34, of St. Petersburg, would fill the prescriptions in exchange for cash, federal agents say. Evans and Truong also have been charged.
The Drug Enforcement Agency investigated the case, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice’s Medicare Fraud Strike Force.
Others charged in the ring include Teresa Johnson, 53, who agents say owns and operates Tri-County Medical Billing and would submit false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare and ChampVA on behalf of a medical doctor who owns three clinics in the Tampa region.
This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 10:46 AM.